Laura Atkins and Stan Yogi Authors of Fred Korematsu Speaks Up

Fred Korematsu defied the government’s WWII orders that all Japanese Americans leave the west coast to be incarcerated. The ACLU of Northern California represented Korematsu all the way to the Supreme Court.

Now, when the lessons of Fred Korematsu’s life are even more important to remember, Laura Atkins and Stan Yogi will speak about their new book for children, Fred Korematsu Speaks Up, which tells the story of Fred Korematsu and the imprisonment of Japanese Americans, linking that injustice to the struggles of other groups.

With politicians citing the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans as a precedent for a Muslim registry, Fred Korematsu’s story of defiance is especially relevant now for all people in America, especially young ones, to understand.

The Alameda County Paul Robeson Chapter and the Berkeley/North East Bay Chapter of the ACLU-NC are proud to co-sponsor this event! Chapter Board members will lead the event with a 10-minutes overview and Q&A of current ACLU-NC activities.

Laura Atkins is a children’s book author and editor who grew up in an activist family and participated in social justice work herself, with a focus on diversity and equity in children’s books. She taught creative writing at the National Centre for Research in Children’s Literature (NCRCL) in London, where she also received her M.A. in children’s literature. She received an M.F.A. in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Stan Yogi is the coauthor, with Elaine Elinson, of Wherever There’s a Fight: How Runaway Slaves, Suffragists, Immigrants, Strikers, and Poets Shaped Civil Liberties in California. He managed development programs for the ACLU of Northern California for fourteen years.